Brigade Group hosts India’s only vertical run at the World Trade Center
No lazing around in bed this Sunday morning for the sporting enthusiasts of the city. Large numbers gathered at the World Trade Center at the Brigade Gateway for the second edition of the WTC Skyscraper Dash, a vertical run that credits its debut in India to the Brigade Group.
Over 850 participants took part in variations of this competition this year. The competition played out in waves, beginning at 6.30 AM and going on till 11.30AM. Such an event is the need of the hour in the IT city of Bangalore where IT professionals are always clinging to their chairs.
The event saw participants run around Brigade Gateway Campus, Sheraton as well as the Orion Mall covering a distance of 2.5km. The dash ended with a run up the 850 stairs all the way to the High Ultra Lounge situated on the 31st floor of the building where the finish line was placed.
The main attraction of the WTC Skyscraper Dash was there were many kids running along with their parents.
About participating in the event Himansi says I felt very good after participating in the event. I had practiced for this Dash the day before with my mother. I felt very energetic while running up the stairs.
Two parents even managed to carry their one year old toddlers and finish the dash.
The Everest Challenge, a sub-event within the WTC Skyscraper Dash was one that caught the attention of several marathon enthusiasts in the city. Participants had to run up the 850 steps of the World Trade Center (31 floors), a total of 70 times to equal the height of Mount Everest (8,848 mts). What made this an excellent variation to participate in was that it could be entered in as a group event. Participants could get together in groups of 10 and split the run up between all of them to earn the necessary rankings to complete the race.
The Everest Challenge was won by Jagmohan and team of Reebok Running Squad who secured medals as well as a cash prize of Rs.25,000. On winning the competition, Jagmohan said, We are trained for marathon. We take training 4 times in a week. But Stair running is new for us. When we heard about the WTC Skyscraper Dash we started practicing. We took out the best performers from our team and we participated in the Everest Challenge. We finished the same in 3 Hours. We are very proud of ourselves. This team was coached by Neera Katwal.
Ms. Nirupa Shankar, Director, Brigade Hospitality said, “The competition was a great challenge for running enthusiasts of different calibers. It gave everybody something interesting to take up on a Sunday. Brigade Gate way Campus made a perfect backdrop for an event of this nature.
Winners list is as follows:
2K Dash category (Women)
1st – Vedha Baldota – 13 Min 16 Sec
2nd – Arpitha Nagaraj – 17 Min 48 Sec
2K Dash category (Men)
1st – Dawn Varghese – 11 Min 20 Sec
2nd – Kiran – 12 Min 02 Sec
The Dash category (Men)
1st – Alphius Maria – 5 Min
2nd – Rajeev K.R – 5 Min 45 Sec
The Dash category (Women)
1st – Neera Katwal – 7 Min 02 Sec
2nd – Ankita Gaur – 7 Min 48 Sec
An internationally recognized running sport, stair running has a wide acceptance. The Skyscraper Dash at the World Trade Centre is accredited by The World Tower Running Association and counts towards their World Cup rankings. Every one of the participants were issued timing certificates, along with their prizes.
Neera Katwal a personal trainer who won first prize in Women’s Dash Category said, I am proud about my achievement. I never expected this. I had participated last year and was the second runner up. But this time I practiced and I m very happy to have won first prize.
Amit Deb Verma, Member, WTC ERT (Emergency Rescue Team) said, We participate in parade every week. Usually we run during emergency within the campus. But this was a completely different experience for us.
Ajay Gupta, Founder, Sport365 and the organizer of the event said, Bangalore’s climate makes it a perfect place to set up a competition of this nature. Besides that it is also a city with running enthusiasts who are always looking for their next challenge. The turnout for this event is much higher than last year and we can see it only increasing in future editions.
